Kanchanaburi

Mueang Kanchanaburi District, Thailand

We spent two days in Kanchanaburi in The West of Thailand. It's such a beautiful tranquil place that it makes it difficult to imagine the horrors that took place here under Japanese Rule during World War 2.

We visited The JEATH Museum (Japan, England, Australia, America, Thailand and Holland) to learn about the terrible cruelty that the pow's and labourers endured during this time. The extracts and the skeletons of 106 pow's help bring this tragic past to life.

Crossing over The River Kwai Bridge is beautiful with scenic views of river life, temples and the stunning red flowers in the distance. It's picture perfect. The people on the bridge are quiet to pay respects to the pow's that died while building the bridge that was meant to take 5 years but was completed in 16 months due to the harsh rule of The Japanese. We bamboo rafted down the River Kwai with our tour group. We then arrived at The Elephant Camp. Both of us were horrified at the cruelty and brutality that the elephants were subjected to for tourists sake. No elephant trekking for us ever! That night, we stayed on a floating boathouse admiring the river views and drinking the night away with a lovely Dutch couple.

The following day, we visited the spectacular Era wan Waterfall (Elephant). We made it to the seventh tier. The challenge reaped great awards- a refreshing pool to swim in under the waterfall. Neither of us were a big fan of the fish that nibbled at our feet though. It was the strangest feeling ever. The waterfalls were pristine with the most stunning colour of turquoise. We are in heaven! Now, it's time to catch the night train, then a bus and then a ferry to travel to The Southern Islands.